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Dream over despite Sabbath victory

Jewish basketball teens lose championship

(HOUSTON CHRONICLE) — They rested. They reflected. And once the sun set on the Jewish Sabbath, the Beren Academy Stars rushed to Nolan Catholic High to play the biggest basketball game of their lives.

The only thing promised the Stars was opportunity granted better late than never. Given the chance to measure themselves in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 2A state championship game, the Stars came up second best by a 46-42 score to Abilene Christian on Saturday night at Hartnett Arena.

Two days after TAPPS amended the schedule to work around the Sabbath, the Stars couldn’t shake loose from a relentless Panthers defense. Beren’s belated admission into the proceedings drew national attention, with a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by three players and three parents persuading TAPPS to revisit the matter. Rabbi Harry Sinoff, head of the Beren Academy, described the whole experience as “up, down, up down.”